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Equal Exchange is proud to launch a new joint tea project with our sister co-operative in the United Kingdom, Equal Exchange Trading Ltd.

Co-ops have represented the heart of Fair Trade and its goal of building markets for small farmers from the beginning and we have joined forces to advance the work of authentic Fair Trade. At a time when corporations and plantations threaten the integrity of this movement, we are excited to be working in partnership to bring consumers and farmers around the world closer together.

I wanted to repost something that Carol Schachet, Director of Development and Communications, at Grassroots International wrote earlier this year about the important role that small farmers play in “… feeding the world, counteracting greenhouse gas emissions and other environmentally toxic poisons, conserving water and biodiversity and expanding social and economic justice.” Click here to read this interesting piece about small farmers, Via Campesina, and our food system.

People often confuse the terms. They sound so similar. Free and Fair. To the uninformed, they even seem to go hand in hand.
Yet, no two concepts could be further apart in terms of what each represents as an idea and what impact each has on small farmers, workers, consumers, local communities, the environment, and so much more.

March is Women’s History Month–the perfect time to highlight a new initiative that I helped create: Java Jog for a Cause. The co-founders and I started out as a small group of women in coffee that serendipitously came together through our mutual interests: coffee, and in particular, women in coffee. We wanted to find a meaningful way to highlight the important role that women play in coffee and pair that with health and fitness.

Equal Exchange’s Banana Conference:
The Future of Authentic Fairtrade Bananas
March 21st, 22nd, and 23rd 2014
Boston, Massachusetts
The conference is coming up fast.
We’d like to fill you in on the details and get ready for what’s to come.
Need a map of where things are happening and when?
Click here!

The most important thing is to come hungry to learn and excited to make connections across the supply chain.

To prepare, we suggest that you read these 3 short pieces so that we can hit the ground running.

… and having trouble navigating the waters?
Many thanks to Fair World Project for their easy-to-use, interactive, fun tool to help you distinguish between seven different certification schemes.
Meets FWP’s expectations and/or is a model program in this area.

Acceptable policy that at least meets current industry standards, but there is room for improvement.

We just heard from Molly Lu that we’ve aired on Taiwanese tv. Molly works with Foody Company, Ltd., a distributor in Taiwan who is a big supporter of Equal Exchange and has been buying our products for many years now.
A rough translation of the news segment is as follows:
After Chinese New Year soon comes Valentine’s Day. Many of us will purchase chocolate but most of us are not aware that child labor is involved in the production process. Products certified through Equal Exchange guarantee child labor is prohibited.